I’ve also got the Linux Basics for Hackers book but it’s at home while I’m on vacation.
I’m just really happy rn yall :) this install took some work, SecureBoot kept getting in the way and I’m not the most savvy person so there was a lot of Googling and trial and error in the way of getting here.
That Linux command line book is really, really good. I love how it actually explains the commands and why to use them instead of just being a copy of each commands help document or something.
Congrats on ditching Windows!
Great work! Glad you’re with us
Good job, welcome to the free world of tech. Installing is often the hardest part.
Next lesson: forget about downloading installer from the browser, check out the software center or learn package manager commands, that’s the first new thing about Linux.
Be mindful that Linux changes faster than a lot of books. I would stick to online documentation.
Schotts actually provides TLCL for free, and last updated it a month ago:
Books will teach the essentials: my core UNIX knowledge comes from an SVR4 book I read in the late 2000s (a decade or more after it was relevant) and it’s still applicable today
Documentation is not the proper place for an absolute beginner to learn (unless it explicitly has tutorials, and even then they’re not always great).
Those books were published in 2019 and 2021. They’ll still be mostly accurate a decade from now. Open-source developers usually try not to introduce breaking changes to mature software unless absolutely necessary.
“I’m just really happy rn yall” - be careful with that rn command if you’re anywhere near Arch, wouldn’t want all your happy uninstalled! Seriously though, good for you! Welcome to freedom.
sudo right now -rf /
This instantly tripled my free space.
Worth reading
I am extremely excited for you. Welcome.
sudo right now -rf /
There’s always one lol
Oh this was meant to be a reply to a different comment
I have been using Kubuntu as a daily driver for almost 10 year now, and never regretted it. I had one Windows box for things like special cases (like dumb website forms that won’t let me use Linux), Pearson Vue exams, and edge cases related to work, but it’s on standby as a secondary system I RDP into. I am not a gamer, so I didn’t need it for that. I saved so much money not having to buy hardware in the last decade or so.
Sadly, Windows 11 won’t work on anything I have (TPM issues, too old), so I recently got a cheap Windows 11 laptop before the tariffs hit and I pay more for dumb Windows-only reasons.
Linux all the way, man. Gave me a career, a life, and my hardware back.
Welcome! Don’t listen to anyone trying to shame you for your distro choice. The most important is that you didn’t choose windows.
No, no! Listen to the shamers! Change your distro eight times over the first month as you listen to them whine, and eventually return to the first one you chose, full of wisdom of why those other distros suck so you can tell the noobs who choose one of them first instead of your glorious choice!
I agree that’s why I don’t listen to all the hater’s who say my distro Choice of Android Tv is bad.
Your distro of choice is a good distro unless you chose anything other than TempleOS
Thank God, I was afraid you would shame my Hannah Montana Linux
I’m not even gonna lie, I considered it
Mint’s a pretty nice distro, all things considered. The only one I’d turn my nose up against is Manjaro, mostly because of their leadership’s reputation as clowns.
Thanks! I plan to experiment with others, but I wanted a nice smooth transition for my wife and I both, so Mint seemed like a great starting point.
I’ve been daily driving mint for over a year now, gotta say, never been tempted by anything else. It really is solid and functional and easy to work with. The only issue I’ve ever had with the system was programs closing randomly, and turns out I was just running out of ram. Fixed that by adding more swap (using part of the hard drive as back up ram).
Having come from windows, it’s really nice to not have to search through 5 different settings menus, not to mention not having changes I made reverted at every update.
Mint is rad. I currently use barebones Debian testing with a bunch of customized stuff, but I always keep a bootable Mint flash drive on my keychain. It’s a very solid choice
My boyfriend wanted Linux on his laptop and he’s not tech savvy at all. I installed Mint for him and he’s very happy with it, no complaints. It’s a very good choice.
I used Mint for almost its entire existence so far, but recently I’ve started main driving immutables, and gotta say the experience is even more user friendly. That’s my current experimentation stage but, so far, it doesn’t feel experimental at all, it just works out the box, no issues.
Just as long as it’s not Red Star, that’s even worse than windows.
If you have something to hide from The Glorious and Omnipotent Kim Jong Un, our beloved leader, you do not deserve to be a human. All hail our Dear Leader.
M’comrad…
Way to go! Welcome to the club buddy! If you need help, don’t be shy. You can DM me anytime and I’ll do my best to help. :)
That’s very kind of you, thanks!
Nice. I’m currently waiting on a “new” laptop, get off this old Core2 duo I’m typing on. Under $300 from a trusted ebay seller and I’ll be in the right decade. Linux is awesome for using old hardware but my favorite part is the “free as in freedom” aspect.
If you do run into windows mandatory stuff it’s not all that hard to run virtual machines now. I’ve been using VMWare player but on my incoming machine I’m going to give QEMU-KVM a shot. Move away from proprietary VMWare and onto free as in freedom software.
Oh my god. I had a E8400 when like WOW came out, fond memories.
So what kind of laptop are you getting?
Edit: I upgraded to the E8400 during the WoW aera, as WoW came out 2004 and the E8400 came out 2008. Still some time ago :-) !
Lenovo t480s 16GB/512GB
And I was just joking about this being a Core2, it’s a i5-4xxx 4GB
Ah lol!
I got about that laptop (t490 256GB), it’s really great.
Nice!!! I’m trying to be like you
What’s your initial impressions of the How Linux Works book?
Really clear and helpful! It’s taken a lot of the intimidation away I think. I’d definitely recommend it to other noobs
Have you tried gaming? I tried PopOs and now Mint like you, and Steam games do not detect my Nvidia card though I see it in Mint information preferences and I’ve tried many things.
Just a little last night, I installed TF2 and Caves of Qud and both ran fine OOB. I’ve got Proton on tap if I need it.
Hope you can find a solution!
Giddyup!
You’ve got this! 🔥
